March 5, 2013

Big Story Weather – March 5, 2013

Big Story Weather from March 4: The strong storm system moved through the Plains and Western Lakes yesterday dumping a lot of snow on places like Minneapolis and creating near blizzard like conditions over North Dakota and also icy conditions through parts of South Dakota.

Weather Outlook for March 5: The big storm system will move into the Great Lakes region today bringing heavy amounts of snowfall to the region with places like Chicago seeing up to six inches. The rain will also spread eastward into the Mid-Atlantic region and parts of the Gulf Coast will see showers move through today ahead of the cold front. High pressure off the East Coast of Florida will bring nice weather to the region today. A frontal system approaching the West Coast will bring a few showers to the Pacific Northwest and higher elevation snows. Below is the weather for a few select cities.

Baltimore MD: Partly Cloudy with a high near: 37F
New Orleans LA: Partly Cloudy with a few A.M. Showers and a high near: 66F
Chicago IL: Mostly Cloudy with snow and a high near: 28F
Denver CO: Partly Cloudy with a high near: 37F
Portland OR: Mostly Cloudy with Showers and a high near: 43F

Weather Outlook for March 6: The low pressure area will move into the Mid-Atlantic region setting the stage for a possible winter storm through the region along with a lot of rain near the coast.

March 5, 2013 Storm Tracker Update:

Atlantic Basin: Low pressure is moving into Western Russia and China and will bring snow showers to the region. Another significant low moving over Europe is bringing heavy rains and higher elevation snows to the region. A third low pressure area is moving over the Northwest Atlantic away from land. A storm system moving into the Great Lakes will begin to impact the Mid-Atlantic region this evening.

Eastern Pacific: Low pressure moving in towards the Baja will bring a few showers and thunderstorms to the region. A second low pressure area is moving along the Pacific Northwest bringing snow and rain to the region. Another low pressure area moving across the Gulf of Alaska is bringing some snow to Southern Alaska, while it’s also bringing strong winds and high seas to the region.

Western Pacific: Low pressure moving over the Pacific Northwest away from Japan will bring winds and seas along with showers to Wake Island. Another area of low pressure is moving towards the Koreas and will bring increased clouds to the region. One wave is along the monsoonal trough just to the Southeast of China bringing open sea convection to the region.

Indian Ocean: An area of low pressure is moving along the monsoonal trough over the open Indian Ocean and should have no impacts to land today.

Southern Hemisphere: Low pressure to the East of Fiji will bring some winds and showers to the area today. A second low pressure is moving away from South America, however the frontal boundary is still bringing a few showers back to the west. Two other areas of low pressure are moving south of Australia and should have limited impacts on the region. Another area of low pressure to the Northeast of Australia is beginning to take on better organization and could become a tropical system later today and slowly move towards the coastline over the next couple of days bringing heavy rain and strong winds to the region.

Five-Day Storm Index Outlook for March 5-9:

Baltimore MD: Today and tomorrow as a frontal boundary begins to move in expect to see slight impacts from some rain showers, becoming a moderate impact on the 6th with periods of heavy snowfall. The remainder of the week will be impact free.

New Orleans LA: A few passing showers today will have a slight impact on the region, followed by the rest of the period being impact free.

Chicago IL: Look for moderate impacts today from heavy snow giving way for the remainder of the week being impact free until the 9th when a few more snow showers move back in creating a slight impact.

Denver CO: The region will be impact free until the 9th when a chance of snow moves in bringing a slight impact to the region.

Portland OR: A few showers today and tomorrow will bring a slight impact to the region, while the rest of the period will be impact free.

Climate Watch for February 28-March 4:

Baltimore MD: The region has seen plenty of colder than normal temps over the past five days with temps around 1-10 degrees below normal.

New Orleans LA: The majority of the period has seen temps below normal – around 7-19 degrees below normal – and then warmed to around 1 degree above normal on the 4th.

Chicago IL: The entire period has seen temps around 5-10 degrees below normal.

Denver CO: The period has been dominated with colder than average temps ranging from around 1-12 degrees below normal, with one above normal day on the 3rd when temps rose to around 8 degrees above normal.

Portland OR: The region has been slightly above normal with temps ranging from 3-7 degrees above normal with one day about 3 degrees below normal on the 3rd.

Major Weather Impacts Discussion for March 5, 2013:

Day 1-3: High pressure to the East of Florida will bring nice weather to the region. The storm system that will push into the Great Lakes will bring some showers to the Gulf Coast and the Southeast, while near the center of the low snow showers will become heavy for places in the Great Lakes and pushing into the Mid-Atlantic region. The Rockies will be dry today, while a new frontal system approaches the Pacific Northwest bringing a few showers and higher elevation snows. The middle of the period will bring localized areas of very heavy snowfall and rainfall to the Mid-Atlantic, while the second storm system moves into the West. The period will finish with the strong storm system impacting the Northeast, while high pressure builds in over the Great Lakes and the second low pushes into the Southwest.

Day 4-7: The period will start with strong winds along the East Coast as the storm system begins to push away from the area, while high pressure ridges into the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast. The storm system moves out of the Southwest and into the Plains creating another area of snowfall for the Northern Plains spreading back into the Rockies and parts of the Southwest. The middle of the period will see the high pressure push along the East Coast, while the storms system pushes into the Southern Plains and brings large amounts of snow and heavy rainfall and even a slight chance for severe weather along the Gulf Coast. High pressure builds in over the West. The period will end with the storm system moving into the Northeast. High pressure builds in over the Southern Plains. Another wave approaches the Pacific Northwest creating showers and higher elevation snows again.

Day 8-12: The period will start with high pressure over the Southeast, while a few lingering snow showers will be over the Northeast and a few lake enhanced snow showers will be in the Great Lakes region. The next storm will begin to push into the Northern Plains bringing snow to the region. By day ten we will be looking at a few snow showers still in the Northeast, while a strong area of high pressure moves in over the Dakotas. This strong area of high pressure will bring some enhanced upslope snow showers to the Eastern slopes of the Rockies. The period will finish with multiple storm systems moving through the Northern Plains and also the Southwest.

Day 13-15: The period will start with multiple low pressures moving from the Northeast through the Northern Plains and this will be the setup for some possibly heavy snows and rains in the regions. The middle of the period will see this pulse of storms slowly shift southward. The period will end with a potent storm system from the Southern Plains into the Gulf Coast with plenty of snow on the north side and also severe weather on the south side for places like Texas, Oklahoma and the Gulf Coast.

Today’s Spotlight Forecast is for Honolulu HI:

Tuesday: Partly Cloudy and mild with a high near 70F, winds will be strong from the Northeast 18-23mph with higher gust. Low temps will be around 68F.

Wednesday: Partly Cloudy and mild with a high near 72F, winds from the East 8-13mph as overnight lows fall to around 68F.

Thursday: Partly Cloudy and mild with a high near 72F, winds will be from the Southwest 8-13mph as overnight lows fall to 68F.

Friday: Partly Cloudy and nice with a high near 73F, winds from the South 10-15mph as overnight lows drop to around 70F.

Saturday: Mostly Cloudy with afternoon showers, high temps will be around 72F. The winds will be from the South 15-20mph as overnight lows drop to around 70F.

Ask The Weatherman for March 5, 2013:

Question: Why are some clouds dark and other clouds light?

Answer: When you look in the sky at the different clouds that pass over your head you notice that some clouds are blue, while others are gray, some are white, and some may even be green and black. All of these colors have to do with the makeup of the cloud. For example the white clouds are absorbing white and reflecting all other colors and also they are usually precipitation free. Gray clouds they tend to be filled with moisture and also sometimes they are frozen clouds meaning that you will get snow. Clouds that are black and dark have to deal with a lot of moisture and sometimes in severe weather they may have debris inside of them.

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Green Energy Weather Report for March 5, 2013:

Wave Energy: The arrival of a frontal boundary along the Pacific Northwest will bring some wave energy to the region. A second spot will also develop over the Southeast US.

Solar Energy: The Southeast and Gulf Coast will be great places for solar power today. This will also extend back into the Southwest and then through most of the Rockies.

Wind Energy: An area of stronger winds will be over the Eastern Dakotas today behind the frontal boundary.

Hydro-Energy: A mix of long term and short term energy will spread through the Great Lakes and into the Mid-Atlantic later today as snow and rain start to fall in this region. Another small place for long term energy will be the Cascades and then a few showers along the coast will bring short term energy.

March 5 Weather and Your Wallet (Chicago IL):

Dining: A very snowy day with whiteout conditions possible will make dining at home the best option.

Transportation: There will be plenty of delays from the local bus routes to the airport today as heavy snow hits the region. A very slow day on the highways as well so best to stay home if possible. Total snowfall amounts of 3-5 inches will accumulate rapidly on the roads.

Shopping: A good day to stay home and leave the shopping for another day.

Electricity: There will be a high demand of heating all day long as high temps only make it to around 30F the total HDD’s for today is around 37.

Yard Work: Snow shovels and snow blowers will be needed today. Remember to take it easy if you are shoveling all of this snow as this is how most winter injuries occur.

Construction: Today is a day for those indoor projects as the outdoors will be very dangerous to be working in.

Outdoor Venues: The walk in the park might want to be limited to a walk around the house for the dog today.